Underage Amalgamations

[Armagh18]

Mayo is littered with underage amalgamations for as long as I can remember. Some for a year if one club can't go it alone with regards to numbers.

I'm not sure how they are graded to be honest, but they haven't been cleaning up county A titles.

Thats the issue I have as where I live the amalgamations are starting to win B titles, not A where I think they should be.

Don't think it's fair to say all amalgamations should be in the highest division. I know some amalgamations in Armagh still struggle to even field a team unfortunately and tend to be on the lower end of division 3 so putting them up to the top grade is doing no one any favours.

Appreciate that but in my county I know of 2 clubs who registered at B, trashed everyone in B league to win a trophy then went up to A in championship and made championship semi and final respectively. Meanwhile clubs thst struggle to get players out get battered out the gate. Has ti be a solution to this carry on

That definitely isn't the way amalgamations are used in Armagh.  It's pretty much always about having the numbers to field a team.  Even at U15 level there appears to be more amalgamations year on year.  Gotta wonder how that impacts those clubs' senior teams in 6 - 10 years given the natural player drop off rate.

Typically, in my experience, one senior team does well out of it and one does badly.

Naturally enough that'll be the case, in my experience one club usually sends more players to the amalgamated team so naturally will have more come through to their seniors.

I really dont have an issue with amalgamations as long as they're being graded fairly and not going into a league thats too weak and hammering all round them

[lurganblue]

In Armagh amalgamated underage teams can play in whatever division they believe they are at. There are amalgamated teams at all levels. Amalgamated teams wouldn't normally be of the quality required to play Division 1, but it does happen now and again; eg Patrick Rankin (Shane O'Neill's, Corrinshigo O'Hanlon's, I think) are Division 1 at U17 this year

That Patrick Rankins team have been consistently strong up through the ages, just don't have the numbers for each club to go it alone.

I wonder about the numbers with these teams sometimes.  I have had experience against some of the amalgamations and on occasion the sub bench can be completely packed!  I'm sure the county must check number of registered players etc. Many clubs have to play younger players to fulfil fixtures though and survive without amalgamating.

I like the sound of that idea in Tyrone where there are leagues with reduced starting line-ups.